What Hurts the Most
by IrredeemableSoul
Summary: Of course, he'd be lying if he told himself that he didn't miss her, or she meant nothing to him. However, lies are all he had at the moment...[RyoSaku, OneShot]


What Hurts the Most

Hi! This is a fic I started quite a while ago, and finished...now, I guess, the plot sort of falls loosely around the song "What Hurts the Most"...I LOVE that song! I really do recommend it!

Summary: Of course, he'd be lying if he told himself "I don't miss her", or "she meant nothing to me". However, lies are all he had at the moment... (One-Shot)

Disclaimer: I do not own PoT, nor do I own the song What Hurts the Most, by Rascal Flatts.

Enjoy!

------

The gentle rain danced with the wind outside this hotel room in Tokyo.

_"Here you go, Ryoma-kun!" she said, handing over her present,"Good luck!"_

Why? Why her? Frustration coursed through his veins, after 3 years, why is she still stuck in his head, refusing to go away? Her shy smile was like a ghost, haunting him everywhere he went.

_"I just know you'll be number 1 in the world, Ryoma-kun!" the girl fought back tears with a smile._

Looking at the beat up tennis ball in his hand, with the worn out words "National No.1" on it, the young man found it unbearable. Why did he even still _have_ this? It's been almos 6 years ago since she gave it to him. And it's been almost 3 years ago when he left her, and everyone else behind...

He wished that he could just forget about her. Sakuno Ryuzaki. The girl with hair too long for tennis, with a horrible sense of direction. The girl who's so shy and clumsy, who never raised her voice.

Of course, he'd be lying if he told himself "I don't miss her", or "she meant nothing to me". However, lies are all he had at the moment.

_'Wait...could it be?'_ he pondered, _'I don't...love her...right?'_

------

Across the busy capital city of Japan, a young girl headed home alone from school, but her mind was elsewhere. Sakuno Ryuzaki was thinking about that boy, Ryoma Echizen. With dark green hair, honey-coloured feline eyes, a sharp tongue, and astonishing tennis skills. Everything about him, she had come to love. And watching him that day, knowing that she'd never see him again, ripped her heart out.

"Sakuno!" a loud..._very_ loud voice boomed from behind her.

"Ah! T-Tomo-chan..." she turned around, and found her best friend fast approaching.

"Hey!" Tomoka knew that expressionon Sakuno's face, "You're thinking about Ry-_him..._aren't you?"

"N-no! O-of course n-not!" she lied, quite unconvincingly.

"Sakuno-chan!" her friend slapped her forehead with exapperation, "You are the worst liar in the world..."

"G-gomen..." Sakuno muttered half-heartedly.

_'Geez, that Ryoma-sama...'_ Tomoka blamed the tennis legend for her friend's behavior. And why wouldn't she? It was so obvious, how could he not notice? Her best friend was in love with him! Unlike herself, who admired the prince much like some sort of teen idol. _'Ryoma-sama can be so stupid.' _for a tennis genius, he really wasn't very smart in anywhere else in life, especially not girls. _'Sakuno LOVES him!' _yet he, Ryoma Echizen did not even make one acknowledgement. _'Jerk! Just because he's some famous tennis star now...he could pay a short visit?'_

"Tomo-chan?" the shy girl queried, upon seeing her short-tempered friend ball her fists together, "Are you alright?"

"Oh...yeah, of course. But...Saku-chan? Are _you _OK?"

"Eh? But I'm just fine..." she answered with confusion.

_I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house  
That don't bother me  
I can take a few tears now and then and just let them out  
I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while  
Even though going on with you gone still upsets me  
There are days every now and again I pretend I'm OK  
But that's not what gets me_

"Sakuno! You know what I mean!"

"Eh?" she didn't know what her friend was talking about, but she refused to find out.

"Ryoma-sa--...Ryoma Echizen! Why didn't you tell him 3 years ago? Now you're just regretting it! More than anything else, am I right?"

"N-no...I don't regret it..." she looked down, "Besides, you know me...I don't have the courage."

"Really? You don't wonder what could've been if you _had_ told him?"

"..."

"C'mom! Sukuno!"

"Ahh...but, Tomo-chan!" she forced a smile, "I'll be late for my part-time job!"

"Sakuno!" she called out.

"See you tomorrow, Tomo-chan!" Sakuno said as she turned to run around the corner away from her friend, wiping away her tears.

_What hurts the most  
Was being so close  
And having so much to say  
And watching you walk away  
And never knowing  
What could have been  
And not seeing that loving you  
Is what I was trying to do_

_Cafe no Kikumo(1)_, it was a humble, but cute and homey cafe downtown. The décor was simple yet elegant. Nothing extravagant, yet something about it warms you from head to toe even in the colds of winter (and I'm not talking about heaters, people).

"Ryuzaki-san, there's some customers waiting at table 9, could you help them?" the kind woman behind the counter requested.

"Hai!"

Ah, but a surprise awaits...

"E-eh? Senpais?" Sakuno was absolutely shocked when she found a very familiar and small group of college students, as she stood there by the mahogany table.

"Nya? Sakuno-chan?" the red-head practically jumped for joy.

"K-Kikumaru-senpai?" he hadn't changed that much, it really _was _a pleasant surprise at work.

"It's been quite a while, Ryuzaki-chan." the smiling Fuji greeted her kindly.

"Sakuno Ryuzaki, Coach Ryuzaki's granddaughter, working at a humble cafe at downtown Tokyo." Inui, being his usual self pushed up his thick glasses, and went ahead scribbling in his precious notebook.

"Ryuzaki-san." the stoic former captain of the legendary Seigaku tennis team greeted her politely with a nod.

"It's great to see you all, senpais."

"Hai," Oishi answered, "how's Ryuzaki-sensei?"

"Oh, she's doing great." she smiled, it was really heart-warming to see them again.

"Sakuno-chan?" Kikumaru started half-jokingly, "Do you have a _boyfriend_?"

"E-eh?" blushing, the girl fumble with the pen and notebook in her hands.

"No?" the hyper young man seemed somewhat happy, "Still waiting for Ochibi?"

"..." hearing someone refer to him, she tensed.

"Eiji!" the ever-so-sensitive Oishi-senpai scolded, sensing her awkwardness.

He understood, after all, everyone knew, everyone_ except_ him

"Ah...I should take your orders," directing the conversation to a different topic, she forced a smile on her face, "So, what do senpais want? It'll all be on the house!"

_It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go  
But I'm doin' it  
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone  
Still Harder  
Getting up, getting dressed, livin' with this regret  
But I know if I could do it over  
I would trade give away all the words that I saved in my heart  
That I left unspoken_

The rain thinned out into a drizzle as the young man stepped out of the lavish hotel. He pulled his Fila cap over his face so that he would not draw any attention. Not having any particular place in mind, Ryoma just led his feet take him wherever.

Absentmindedly walking down the streets of the estranged city, guided only by an unknown feeling. The long-ago crowned prince of tennis really didn't know where he was going, but somehow, just _some_how...a something deep inside his heart knew.

------

"Have a nice night now, Ryuzaki-san!" the middle-aged woman said as the cafe prepared to close.

"You too!" she was doing the final clean-up when someone entered.

As she turned to see the late customer, it felt as though time had frozen in place. It was _him_...maybe...this is a dream? He couldn't possibly be here in Japan! Maybe it's just a wannabe? He really was popular these days.

Is _this _where his feet took him? To _her?_ Just standing there, staring at him with shock. It was hard to believe that she _still _had her braids...is she doing that to spite him?

It was now unmistakable as he looked her way. Those eyes, they're _his_...It's really him! So many emotions started to stir within her. A tornado, a hurricane of mixed feelings...

"R-Ryoma...Ryoma-k-kun?" she softly called out.

"I'm sorry, sir." the woman interrupted as she walked up to him, "This cafe is now closed."

"Ah, then please excuse me." the young man simply said, turning his back, he walked out onto the streets.

_What hurts the most  
Is being so close  
And having so much to say  
And watching you walk away  
And never knowing  
What could have been  
And not seeing that loving you  
Is what I was trying to do...  
_

It was now 9:15 PM, she walked out the backdoor, bidding goodbye to her good-hearted employer. Sighing, Sakuno walked out onto the streets, dejected. _'Well...I at least got to see him...'_ Did he recognize her as well? Or had he forgotten?

"Oi, Ryuzaki, right?" a quite familiar, yet estranged voice called out, snapping the girl out of her self-pity.

A gasp escaped her mouth as a mass of blood slowly crawled up her cheeks, painting them a fair shade of red. _'He remembers me?'_ There he stood, under the streetlight, handsome as ever.

"H-hai," cheeks still burning, Sakuno answered, "R-Ryoma-kun?" though she's not really sure she should call him that anymore...

"Heh, who _else_ could it be?"

"B-but--?"

"These streets are dangerous, as long as I remember." he cut her off, not really caring.

"Ah...hai."

Without warning, he started to walk. Sakuno, seeing this, just stood there, there's nothing she could do...He was probably busy...

"Hey," he stopped for a moment, "Ryuzaki-sensei lives that way, right?" he suggested to the way where he walked.

"Eh? Wh-what--?"

"It's late." it was all he said before he kept walking, "You'll get left behind."

_'Eh? Is he walking me home?' _finding it hard to believe, she followed quickly nonetheless.

"I-it's been a while, hasn't it...?" desperate to make conversation, she asked timidly.

"Hm." was his simple answer.

On the rest of the way home, as they walked side by side (Sakuno having finally caught up), neither one said another word. The girl had already stopped trying to make conversation. _'Ryoma-kun is Ryoma-kun, after all.'_ she sighed almost inaudibly.

"We're here." he suddenly said, upon reaching the Ryuzaki residence.

"Ah...hai." snapping of her trance, she answered, "Thank you, Ryoma-kun."

To answer her, he shrugged.

"_Why didn't you tell him 3 years ago? Now you're just regretting it! More than anything else, am I right?"_

Her best friend's words stung...but perhaps she was right. She had to let him know, and it's now or probably...never.

"Ryoma-kun!" gathering all her courage, she called out.

"Hm?" it surprised her that he hadn't left.

"U-um...I...I l-lo..." she tried, but the words won't come out.

"Hm?"

"Ah...nevermind, have a good night then!" faking cheerfulness, she bid goodbye.

"Alright, say hi to Ryuzaki-sensei for me..." with that, he turned to walk away.

"Hai." and so she watched him turn his back and walk casually down the street as tears threatened to fall.

_What hurts the most  
Is being so close  
And having so much to say  
And watching you walk away  
And never knowing  
What could have been  
And not seeing that loving you  
Is what I was trying to do_

_'No...I-I can't leave it like this...I just have to tell him!' _he was quite a distance from her now, if she doesn't do it soon, she'd lose him forever, she knew it. _'I have to be brave...'_

"_U-um...I...I l-lo..."_

What was that all about? He pondered on her...incoherent words. After all, he really was slow in the area of girls, they're just so hard to understand... _'Wait...sh-she can't be i-in l-love with me?' _and that's when it hit him...How could he have not noticed? How could he have been so stupid? Probably _everyone _knew! Everyone, but him...he was too absorbed in tennis, he never noticed her feelings...until now. Hell, he never even noticed his _own _feelings until now...

_Not seeing that loving you  
That's what I was trying to do..._

"Ryoma-kun!" hearing her call his name, Ryoma stopped. He knew it was her, after all, she was the only girl who called him that...

"Hm?" he watched to girl run up to him...

"About before..." she fidgeted nervously, "I-I really have something to tell you..."

"Alright." he had a fair idea of what she was going to say, but he decided to give her a chance..._that_ rarely happens.

"I-I..." say it! Just say it! She told herself, "I...just wanted to know if you wanted to come in."

_'NO!' _she screamed in her head.

_'I guess she doesn't have the courage, after all...'_

"No thanks." and alas...He started to walk away.

_'No...I can't...I got to tell him...' _tears stained her cheeks.

He stopped abruptly as he heard her raise her voice.

"H-How could you not see, Ryoma-kun?" she called out between sobs, "I...I LOVE YOU!"

Realizing what she had just said, Sakuno clasped a hand over her mouth, more tears poured out. Getting ready for the harsh rejection that surely awaits, she closed her eyes tight, refusing to look at him.

"Look at me." trying hard to keep calm, he walked over to her.

_'No...I can't...'_ the she felt his warm touch, a finger under her chin to lift it up. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes. He was standing there, just looking at her with an unexplanable expression.

"I'm sorry," he said, meaning every word, "I should have noticed..."

"I-it's alright." she choked out, surprised by his gentleness.

"Because..._I _should have been the one to say those words _first_."

"Eh?" she was taken completely by surprise.

"_I love you." _he leaned and whispered in her ear.

And there was nothing else left to say...it was a night they'd both remember for the rest of their lives, a night when the world would stop just for _them..._

------

_The End_

_------_

Wow, it's finally done! So how'd you like it? I hope the lyrics weren't too distracting, because I love that song SOOO much!

Sorry if there's any mistakes...I was in a hurry when uploading this...I was almost late for school too! LOL...anyways, hope you liked it!

Please tell me what ya think!

Peace!


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